STEVE'S CRADLES

My building of three cradles all started when my three daughters wanted to establish a tradition of having their newborn children sleep in a cradle that their grandfather built. Then, the tradition would continue by handing down the cradle amongst the children of the children. On the bottom of the cradle would be written the names of those who had slept in the cradle. At first, the daughters wanted a cradle for each of their children. However, they realized storage would be a problem so they decided that they each would have only one cradle. The first cradle that I built was for Maggie (our first granddaughter), then it used by Katie (the forth born), and now by Annie (the fifth born). The second cradle was built for Abby (our second grandchild) and is now being used by Mack (our sixth grandchild and grandson). The third cradle was built for Allie (our third grandchild) and it was recently used by our seventh grandchild, Isabel.

On this page, I have also included a cradle that my good friend Ray built for his grandson, Logan. It is unique in design so I included it here along with the three cradles that I have built.

The cradle stuff starts because newborn sleep in cradles or bassinets for a few months (I think until the baby gets too long or raises its head, rolls over, or whatever) and then move into the big crib beds. A cradle or bassinet will have a mattress of various sizes where 18 by 36 inches is usually the biggest size available. For reference; a crib has a mattress that is about 27 by 51 inches and a port-a crib mattress is 24 by 38 inches.

The first thing to do in building a baby cradle is to select and buy a cradle mattress. I went to the local baby store (only baby stuff there) and asked for the best cradle mattress they carry (it has always been 18 by 36). Then, find a plan (actually, I had to get the plan approved by the Grandmother and the new Mommy). I have never seen a plan that fit the mattress. Anyway, having the mattress first allowed me to know what I was dealing with in size. After selecting the plan, I had to modify it to fit the actual mattress size. I ended up combining aspects from different plans to make the final design for each cradle I built.

Here are the sources for the five plans which have been used by me and Ray to develop the designs along with photographs of the my three and Ray's finished cradles:

1. Swinging Cradle, page 35, Woodworking Projects for the Country Home, by Lavon B. Smith, Sterling Publishing Co., 1992. I got this book at the Barnes and Noble book store in 1996. I have built this cradle out of pine. I widened and lengthened the basket (where the baby lies) to fit the mattress which fits tight inside the basket. Take a look at the cradle I built for Maggie (Katie uses it now) below:

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Steve's Cradle for Abby (and Mack too)

2. Cradle, page 74, Furniture Projects, Better Homes and Gardens Books, 1996. I also got this book at Barnes and Noble in October 1997. I built the basket of this cradle from this plan which also had to be widened and lengthened. I built the support for this basket using the support design in cradle number 3 below. This basket and the support from below are also pine. Take a look Abby's cradle below:

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Steve's Cradle for Allie (and Isabel too)

3. Heirloom Cherry Cradle, page 18, Home Woodworker, The Family Handyman, Spring 1998. I bought this at Lowe's in January 1998. It is a magazine style projects book. It has a very good safety discussion on page 21. This was the third cradle that I built. I made it using pine. Instead of dowels, I used turnings that look much better and were ordered from Woodworker's Supply (800-645-9292). Take a look Abby's Allie's cradle below:

4. I used a fourth cradle design, Molly’s Cradle, page 42, American Woodworker Magazine, October 1997. You might be able to find this at the local public library. This is a very innovative design but has some pointed corners that need to be cut back and rounded off. It has a removable stretcher concept which I incorporate into the designs of my second and third cradles above so that the support can be disassembled for storage.

One may ask, Why Pine??? All three of my daughter's master bedrooms have pine furniture and all three are different brands and styles. All three daughters kept or will keep the newborn in the cradle in the master bedroom for a few months. All three daughters said they wanted the cradle stain to match their master bedroom furniture. Grand fathers follow orders. There you have it!!!

5. My good friend Ray is a fellow woodworker and a fellow retiree (we both worked for the same company). He built a cradle for his grandson which is very unique - a woodworker's challenge. Its sides and ends are dowels which he special ordered to be very straight. Drilling the angled holes in the rails required several different drill press set-ups (and a little hand drilling).

Ray got his plans from Cherry Tree Toys, PO Box 369, Belmont, Oh 43718, (800)848-4363. They have a free catalog and their web site is www.cherrytree-online.com. The cradle is their Heirloom Cradle. It is 41 inches long, 27 1/2 inches wide and 43 inches tall and uses a standard 18 inch by 36 inch cradle matress. Ray used solid Cherry and Cherry dowels. Glider hinges (pivots) and decorative plugs to cover the pivots were obtained from Rockler Woodworking and Hardware (800-279-4441). The finish is spray semigloss "Deft", a lacquer which is non-toxic to babies if allowed to dry for at least 30 days.

Here is Ray's cradle for Logan:

6. An additional plan that I am aware of is Wood Magazine, October 1987, issue #19. I understand this plan is also available from the Wood Magazine WWW site.

Also, a search of WWW sites and news groups on the Internet will produce a source for cradle pictures, concepts, and plans.